Gallbladder Cancer: Know the Warning Signs

Gallbladder cancer is one of the most lethal forms of cancer due to a rapid progression of the disease and the difficulty in diagnosing it. The rate of survivors of gallbladder cancer is low- fewer than 5 percent with the disease will be alive after five years.

The gallbladder is located behind the liver, which is one reason that the diagnosis can be difficult. Even during abdominal surgery, the gallbladder may not be seen and therefore not be diagnosed even if the cancer is severe. Sometimes gallbladder cancer is not detected until the gallbladder has been removed and it is then seen to be cancerous. The tumors can not be felt through the skin and there are no blood or other lab tests that can test for it.

In the earliest stages of the disease, there are often no symptoms, allowing the disease to progress until there is little hope for treatment. Once the gallbladder cancer has become advanced, some symptoms to watch for include severe abdominal pain above the stomach, unexplained weight loss, a lingering fever, and yellowing, jaundiced skin. If any of these symptoms are present, it is vital to have them checked out to make sure that the gallbladder is not cancerous. if there is no cancer in the gallbladder, there still may be other problems, such as gallstones or a gallbladder infection.

There are some doctors who will not take this abdominal pain seriously, and who will prescribe pain pills instead of checking the gallbladder for infections or cancer. if this is the case, see another doctor, and another and another until you can rule out cancer or other problems. Waiting, or trusting a doctor who does not take the symptoms seriously, can be fatal.

Once gallbladder cancer has progressed to the point of severe symptoms, there are very few treatments available. Radiation and chemotherapy are available, but are often not enough to reverse the cancer at this stage. Sometimes a patient may have the gallbladder, part of the liver, and some of the lymph nodes removed to rid the body of the cancerous cells, but in most cases the disease has progressed too far by the time the diagnosis has been made for this to a viable treatment option.

This form of cancer is more common in women than men, and is more common when there have been previous gallstones or other gall bladder deposits, have had typhoid, or have worked in a rubber plant (due to toxic chemicals). People who are obese, over 70, or have a family history of the disease are more at risk as well. But, even with none of these symptoms can still get gallbladder cancer, making it even more important to watch for symptoms of the disease, as it will be overlooked when there are no obvious risk factors present.